Pump sprayer



Jan. 18, 1966 B. l. scoGGlN, JR., ETAL 3,229,863

PUMP SPRAYER Filed OCT.. 8, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l 35 g \n i. 34 M a H a l 25 i 52 50 4552 -//j I 26 55 l j 5a '54 22 I 6A 7 25 2),; 5 Q0 .Y

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INVENTORS. Baxer' I. Scoggn Jr.'

BY Jeu/ D. Ulea/en er' 'gwood/ww f. mig/van 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B. l. SCOGGIN, JR., ETAL PUMP SPRAYER Jan. 18, 1966 Filed oct. e, 1963 ull United Statesg Patent O 3,229,863 PUMP SPRAYER Baxter I. Scoggin, Jr., Kansas City, M0., John R. Albert, Leawood, Kan., and Juel D. Clevenger, Raytown, and Woodrow E. Vaughan, Independence, Mo., assignors to Cook Chemical Company, Summit, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Oct. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 314,657 8 Claims. (Cl. 222-321) This invention relates to finger-operated sprayers of the pump type utilized in dispensing fluids from containers.

Certain iiuids such as hair sprays are ideally dispensed with sprayers but, because of certain of its ingredients which quickly iilm upon exposure to the atmosphere, they tend to clog conventional sprayers after a single or only a very few dispensing operations.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide a sprayer having a discharge oriiice which is sealed from the atmosphere when the sprayer is not in use.

Another important object of the invention is to provide structure for sealing the discharge orifice without the necessity for a separate cover cap to enclose the sprayer head.

Still a further important object of the invention is to provide sealing structure coniigured to provide a iirm effective seal without requiring high effecting and release torque so that the sprayer may be easily sealed by a housewife after use.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sprayer having threads on the inner surface of the collar and on the outer surface of the sprayer head which are aligned when the head is in the collar to permit easy closing of the sprayer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sprayer wherein the ends of the threaded surfaces on the collar and the head serve to limit the extent of inward travel of the pump plunger for preventing impinging of the spray pattern on the collar so that iuid is not dripped onto the outer surface of the container.

Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of a cover cap for pricing and sanitary purposes having a novel releasable attachment to the collar that does not interfere with the head, yet permits its use both in sealing and releasing the head with respect to the collar.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a central, vertical, cross-sectional view of the pump sprayer of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1 partially in elevation showing the plunger depressed during pumping operations;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary view showing the sprayer head in section and the outer end of the plunger in elevation, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction, covering the discharge head;

FIG. 5 is a detailed, cross-sectional view on a reduced scale taken along line 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional View on a reduced scale taken along line 6 6 of FIG. 4, the outline of the iinger saddle appearing in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of the sprayer head taken along line 7 7 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 8 8 of FIG. 7 showing the sprayer head assembled on the plunger, the discharge orifice and swirl chamber appearing in dotted lines.

A hand pump sprayer broadly designated 10 in FIGS. l and 2 comprises a body 12 having an axially extending bore 14, and a plunger 16 reciprocable in bore 14. Body 12 includes a barrel 18, a iiange 20 integral with barrel 3,229,863 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 ice 18, and a collar 22 telescoped over barrel 18 and suitably secured thereto (as by adhesive bonding) for attaching body 12 to a container cap 24.

Plunger 16 includes a tube 28 extending into bore 14, and a discharge head 30. An eductor tube 32 shown fragmentarily in FIG. 1 extends to the bottom region of a fluid container (not shown) for conducting fluid into barrel 18.

Head 30 includes a tubular side wall 34 telescoped over the outermost end of plunger 16, and an integral, transversely extending end wall 36 closing the outer end of side wall 34, to present a cavity 38 in iluid communication with tube 28. The internal surface of side wall 34 is grooved to present a pair of peripherally-spaced passages 40 extending longitudinally of side wall 34 from end wall 36 when side wall 34 is telescoped over tube 28. The passages 40 communicate by laterally extending branches 42 with a semispherical swirl chamber 44 which communicates with the exterior of side wall 34 through a discharge oriiice 46. The branches 42 communicate with swirl chamber 44 on opposite sides of the discharge orifice 46 and are disposed to cause the flow of uid tangentially into chamber 44 for causing the iluid to follow a swirling path upon discharging through oriflce 46. The configuration of chamber 44 and its communicating passages 40 and branches 42 have long been well known in the sprayer art and form no part of the instant invention per se.

The outer surface of side wall 34 is provided with external screw threads 48, and side wall 34 is provided with an external recess 35 surrounding orifice 46 to enhance the spray pattern 50 illustrated schematically in FIG. 2. Collar 22 is provided with an axially extending passage 26 having a continuous, innermost, convex edge 52 at the outermost end thereof. Passage 26 is provided with internal screw threads 54 terminating in an outermost convolution that is spaced from edge 52 to present an outwardly facing shoulder 56 cooperable with the substantially at bottom edge 58 of side wall 34 for limiting the inward reciprocation of plunger 16.

Resilient means in the form of a helical spring 60 in barrel 18 has one end thereof bearing against barrel 18 and the other end bearing against a piston 62 reciprocably carried by plunger 16 for biasing the latter toward the outermost end of its reciprocable path of travel as shown in FIG. 1.

A saddle 64 configured to be comfortably engaged by a human finger 66, is formed on the top of end wall 36 to permit the depressing of head 30 to reciprocate plunger 16 to the innermost end of its reciprocable path of travel. This position is illustrated in FIG. 2 and it will be noted that the edge 58 abuts shoulder 56 to limit the extent of reciprocation of plunger 16.

The zone of juncture between saddle 64 and side wall 34 is formed to present a bevelled sealing ring 68 at the outermost end of side wall 34 and disposed to slope into passage 26 of collar 22. When plunger 16 is shifted to the innermost end of its path of travel and head 30 is rotated in a direction to engage threads 48 on side wall 34 with threads 54 in passage 26, continued rotation of head 30 brings the bevelled sealing ring 68 into sealing engagement with convex edge 52 at the outermost end of collar 22. Thus, the seal eiected between ring 68 and edge 52 eliminates the possibility of the leakage of uid from collar 22 and also seals passage 26 from the atmosphere to prevent filming of the fluid adhering in the passages and chambers and in the oriiice which would block or restrict the ow of fluid through the discharge head. The particular configuration of bevelled ring 68 cooperating with convex edge 52 permits the effecting of an air and liquidtight seal quickly and easily Without the necessity of a great deal of torque applied to head 30 so that it will ordinarily be possible for the housewife to easily close or open sprayer without the need for auxiliary tools. In this regard, it should be pointed out that saddle 64 is generally heart-shaped to present a substantially smooth, outer periphery which may be engaged by the iingers for imparting rotational torque to head 30 without discomfort. Knurling on the outer surface of saddle 64 is conveniently provided to facilitate the rotation of head 30 by the fingers.

As is conventional in this art, the relatively sharp end 70 of saddleJ 64 is positioned to provide a pointer aligned with the discharge orifice 46 to indicate to the user of sprayer 10 the direction of discharge of the iluid to obviate the possibility for inadvertent spraying of the fluid on the user. The discharge orifice 46'is disposed a substantial distance below the undersurface of saddle 64 to prevent impinging of the spray pattern 50 on saddle 64. Additionally, orice 46 is located a substantial distance above edge 58 to cooperate with the spacing of shoulder 56 from the outermost end of collar 22 to substantially prevent any impinging of collar 22 on the spray pattern 50 when plunger 16 is at the innermost end of its reciprocable path oftravel.

It will -be readily apparent that the single seal provided between edge 52 and ring 68 is sutiicient to adequately seal sprayer 10 when not in use and permits the elimination of all other seals for preventing the escape of fluid from sprayer 10. Thus, sprayer 10 presents a self-contained, sealed package which is suiciently safe for shipping and handling without the necessity of auxiliary packaging structure. Y

It is possible to achieve certain desirable results with the utilization of covering structure for sprayer 10, and

to this end, a cover cap 72 may be provided. Cap 72 includes a generally cylindrical side wall 74 having releasable structure in the form of a plurality of peripherally spaced projections 76 at the innermost end of wall 74 and configured to engage an inwardly sloped, annular bead 78 at the innermost end of collar 22. Three longitudinally extending ribs 80 are spacedwperipherally around the inner surface of wall 74 to permit the insertion of cover cap 72 over sprayer 10 with the ribs 80 not engaging saddle 64 as shown best in FIGS. 4 and 6. The ribs 80 are thus in disposition'to be rotated into engagement withthe periphery of saddle 64 when cap 72 is rotated so that cap 72 may serve as an effective wrench to facilitate the rotation of head 30 for disengaging the latter from collar 22.

The'outer surface 82 of the innermost peripheral margin of cap 72 is knurled so that it may be conveniently rotated by the iingers. It should be pointed out that ribs 80 are not in disposition to hold `head 30 down so that the latter is free to move upwardly within cap 72 when head 30 has been rotated sufficiently to disengage the latter from collar 22. Thus, the user of sprayer 10 will become aware of the disengagement of head 30 from collar 22 when head 30 rises upwardly in cap 72 under the influence of spring 60, irrespective of the fact that head 30 is obscured from view by cap 72. Pricing information may conveniently be displayed on the at top 84 of cover cap 72. Additionally, cap 72 serves to eliminate the accumulation of dust in the irregular surfaces presented by saddle 64.

In operation, the head 30 is rotated to disengage threads 48 from threads 54 to permit reciprocation of plunger 16. The uid pumped by piston 62 passes suitable valves 86 and 88 and flows into cavity 38. The uid then enters swirl chamber 44 via passages 40'and branches 42 to effect a swirling motion for-effectively atomizing the uid as the latter is discharged through orifice 46 in the spray pattern 50. At the termination of use for'sprayinig, head 30 is simply rotated to engage ring 68 with edge 52, thus sealing .sprayer 10 against leakage and evaporation. If desired, cap 72 may be placed over head 30 to facilitate the rotating of the latterto tighten ring 68 on edge 52 l for effecting the seal.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sprayer: a hand pump provided with a barrel, a plunger having a tube and a head, the tube being reciprocable in the barrel and extending outwardly beyond onefend of the latter, the head being mounted on one end of the tube exteriorly of the barrel and having a discharge orifice, and resilient means yieldably biasing said plunger toward the outermost end of its path of travel; a collar surrounding the plunger and secured to the barrel, said collar `having a passage therethrough;

releasable means for holding the plunger depressed inwardly against the action of said resilient means with the orifice housed in said passage; and means closing said passage when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable'means, said head having a side wall housed in the bore when the plunger is held depressed by said releasble'means, said orifice being in said side wall, said head having an end wall closing the outer end of said side wall, said means closing the passage including a sealing ring surrounding theside wall at said end wall, said releasable means `comprising external screw threads on the side wall andinternal screw threads lin the' collar within the passage, said threads intermeshing when the side wall is in the passage. 2. Theinvention of claim 1, said collar having an outermost end provided with a continuous innermost edge, said ring having a portion thereof held wedged within the collar against said edge by said threads when the side wall is in the passage. 3. In a sprayer: a hand pump provided with a barrel, a plunger having a tube and' a head, the tube being reciprocable in the barrel and extending outwardly beyond one'end of the latter, the head being mounted on one end of the tube exteriorly of theV barrel and having a discharge orifice, and vresilient means yieldably biasing said plunger toward the outermost end of its path of travel; a collar surrounding the plunger and secured to the barrel, said collar having a passage therethrough;

releasable means for holding the plunger depressed inwardly against the action of said resilient means with the orice housed in said passage; and

means-closing said passage when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means, said head hav-` ing a side wall housed in the bore when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means, said orifice being in said side wall, said releasable means comprising external screw threads on the side wall and internal screw threads in the collar within the passage, said threads intermeshing when the sider wall is in the passage.

4. The invention of claim 3, said orifice being disposed exteriorly of the passage when the plunger is at the innermost end of vits reciprocable path of travel with the external threads abutting the internal threads.

5. The invention of claim 3, a cover cap surrounding the collar when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means; and releasable structure attaching the cover cap to the collar.

6. The invention of claim 5, and means on the cover cap and on the head, interengageable when the cover cap is rotated, for securing the head into the'collar and unscrewing the head from the collar.

7. In a sprayer:

a hand pump provided with a barrel, a plunger having a tube and a head, the tube being reciprocable in the barrel and extending outwardly beyond one end of the latter, the head being mounted on one end of the tube exteriorly of the barrel and having a discharge oriiice, and resilient means yieldably biasing said plunger toward the outermost end of -its path of travel;

a collar surrounding the plunger and secured to the barrel, said collar having a passage therethrough;

releasable means for holding the plunger depressed inwardly against the action of said resilient means with the orifice housed in said passage; and

means closing said passage when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means, said releasable means interconnecting the head and the collar, said means closing the passage comprising a seal between the head and the collar, said seal including an outermost end on said collar provided with a continuous innermost edge, and a ring on the head having a portion thereof wedged Within the collar against said edge when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means, said edge being transversely convex, said ring being transversely bevelled and sloping inwardly into said bore.

8. In a sprayer:

a hand pump provided with a barrel, a plunger having a tube and a head, the tube being reciprocable in the barrel and extending outwardly beyond `one end of the latter, the head being mounted on one end of the tube exteriorly of the barrel and having a discharge orifice, and resilient means yieldably biasing 2,791,467 2,861,839 11/1958 lMellon 222-321 said plunger toward the outermost end of its path of travel;

a collar surrounding the plunger and secured to the barrel, said collar having a passage therethorugh;

releasable means for holding the plunger depressed inwardly against the action of said resilient means with the orifice housed in said passage;

means closing said passage when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means, said releasable means interconnecting the head and the collar, said collar having an outermost end, said means closing the passage comprising a seal between the head and said end of the collar;

a cover cap surrounding the collar when the plunger is held depressed by said releasable means; and

releasable structure remote from said end of the collar attaching the cover cap to the collar, said structure comprising a bead on the collar adjacent the opposite end thereof and a projection within the cover cap engaging the bead.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/ 1957 leshin 222-320 X LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, EVERETT W. KIRBY, Examiners. 

1. IN A SPRAYER: A HAND PUMP PROVIDED WITH A BARREL, A PLUNGER HAVING A TUBE AND A HEAD, THE TUBE BEING RECIPROCABLE IN THE BARREL AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY BEYOND ONE END OF THE LATTER, THE HEAD BEING MOUNTED ON ONE END OF THE TUBE EXTERIORLY OF THE BARREL AND HAVING A DISCHARGE ORIFICE, AND RESILIENT MEANS YIELDABLY BIASING SAID PLUNGER TOWARD THE OUTER MOSTEND OF ITS PATH OF TRAVEL; A COLLAR SURROUNDING THE PLUNGER AND SECURED TO THE BARREL, SAID COLLAR HAVING A PASSAGE THERETHROUGH; RELEASABLE MEANS FOR HOLDING THE PLUNGER DEPRESSED INWARDLY AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID RESILIENT MEANS WITH THE ORIFICE HOUSED IN SAID PASSAGE; AND MEANS CLOSING SAID PASSAGE WHEN THE PLUNGER IS HELD DEPRESSED BY SAID RELEASABLE MEANS, SAID HEAD HAVING A SIDE WALL HOUSED IN THE BORE WHEN THE PLUNGER IS HELD DEPRESSED BY SAID RELEASABLE MEANS, SAID ORIFICE BEING IN SAID SIDE WALL, SAID HEAD HAVING AN END WALL CLOSING THE OUTER END OF SAID SIDE WALL, SAID MEANS CLOSING THE PASSAGE INCLUDING A SEALING RING SURROUNDING THE SIDE WALL AT SAID END WALL, SAID RELEASABLE MEANS COMPRISING EXTERNAL SCREW THREADS ON THE SIDE WALL AND INTERNAL SCREW THREADS IN THE COLLAR WITHIN THE PASSAGE, SAID THREADS INTERMESHING WHEN THE SIDE WALL IS IN THE PASSAGE. 